A conference was held at the Vasil Levski National Sports Academy (NSA) in Sofia to mark the 130th anniversary of the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, in which Bulgaria also participated.
Participants in the forum included BOC President Vessela Lecheva, the NSA leadership, professors, and prominent Olympians.
Following the performance of the national and Olympic anthems, the conference was officially opened by Prof. Lozan Mitev, Director of the Educational and Olympic Center.
In his opening remarks, Prof. Mitev emphasized that ever since its founding in 1942, the National Sports Academy has always been one of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee’s strongest partners—institutionally, in terms of personnel, ideologically, and culturally: “Holding this celebration here at the NSA sends a message about the responsibility we bear to preserve the values and achievements of the Olympic movement in Bulgaria,” stated Prof. Lozan Mitev.
In her presentation, BOC President Vessela Letcheva shared little-known details about Bulgaria’s participation in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens and the process of founding the BOC in 1924, which took place in a spirit of understanding and goodwill among the founders, despite their significant differences on certain issues.
“The founders of the Bulgarian Olympic movement have left us an indisputable example and a guiding light for strong national consciousness, sportsmanship, and European culture. They set aside their egos, personal differences, and professional and political disagreements in the name of the idea—that the Bulgarian Committee should come under the auspices of the IOC and become a full member and participant in the international Olympic movement. “So, let us pay tribute today to Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who not only revived the Olympic Games but also created Olympism—as a spirit, principles, and ethical values,” stated Vessela Letcheva.
In his welcoming remarks, NSA Rector Prof. Krasimir Petkov highlighted the educational and socio-cultural role of the National Sports Academy. “Today, we must pay tribute to the people who created the first Olympic Games and embrace the Olympic ideal in its purest form. Our goal is to discover what is beautiful, positive, and what unites us. The scientific conference would offer a different perspective on the Olympic Games. The focus is on the first ones, but the Olympic movement embodies an abundance of virtues that are universally applicable to the entire world,” emphasized Prof. Krasimir Petkov in his speech.
Amid thunderous applause from the audience, the rector presented a National Sports Academy honorary medal to Lora Hristova, bronze medalist at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina. Prof. Petkov also presented the elite biathlete, who is a student at the National Sports Academy, with a painting by a Bulgarian artist, donated by one of the national federations.
Other official guests at the conference included H.E. Pierre Hagman, Ambassador of the Swiss Confederation; Evangelia Theodoropoulou, Consul of the Hellenic Republic; Matthias Favre, Sports Attaché at the Embassy of the French Republic, Olympic champions and instructors at the National Sports Academy, Assoc. Prof. Tereza Marinova and Asst. Prof. Stoyka Krasteva, journalists and public figures.
“The 130th anniversary of the Olympic Games in Athens provides an opportunity to launch a serious discussion on the place and role of modern sport, the authenticity of its educational and socio-cultural mission as a universally accessible means of shaping the younger generation through the cultivation of humane values and high civic morality. A discussion aimed at finding ways for sports competition to once again become a compelling force for values and education in the spirit of youth. “And the Olympic medals and victories won through modern athletic training, combined with values, education, and culture, make the future of the Olympic movement natural, meaningful, and guaranteed,” stated Prof. Mitev.
The official part of the event continued with the laying of flowers at the bust of Baron Pierre de Coubertin and a visit to a themed exhibition at the Education and Olympic Center.
